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SFP VOICES NOVEMBER 2009
Vol. V, No. 9 © |
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Advocacy across the Areas in the Spirit of Blessed Frances
“As people living out the charism of Blessed Frances, we have always been advocates, and we continue to speak for the voiceless . . .”
Dear Sisters and Associates,
In English the term advocacy is used to express the act of supporting or acting on behalf of a cause or person. It is the concrete option that is before us with regard to the Community of Life. As potential advocates, we wonder: How can we truly make a contribution to sustain the cause of the Community of Life? Leonardo Boff cites three very meaningful expressions from the Earth Charter in his book Etica & eco-spiritualidade (p. 32-35) regarding how we can accomplish this. We must take care of the Community of life in three ways:
With understanding: avoiding actions that confer suffering upon the representatives of the Community of Life;
With compassion: we are called to respect the otherness of these beings and perceive a sense of solidarity with them;
With love: in our behavior we are meant to harvest the force of attraction, union and transfiguration that stems from God and that brought St. Francis to a purer contemplation of brotherhood and sisterhood without limits or borders.
Deepening our Understanding of Living in Tune with the Community of Life
Our world is slowly beginning to focus and see the silent, non-human members of creation who do not have a say in all the decisions, rules, or good practices that affect their lives and the environment where they live. "Christians", notes Franciscan theologian Ilia Delio in her book, Care for Creation: a Franciscan Spirituality of the Earth, “have a long tradition of being a loving witness for, and speaking on behalf of, the poor and the voiceless, but we seldom realize that all the creatures of our earth are truly among the marginalized" (p. 104). Today we are all, Christians and not, evolving in our understanding, recognition, and attention to these silent partners in creation.
We have nearly reached the end of a year during which, through these pages, we tried to deepen our understanding of what it means to live in tune and connected with the “Community of Life.” One question now remains for us to answer: What do we do with this new awareness of being an integral part not only of the human race but also of all of creation? To what concrete action does this awareness call us? In this issue, you will read about just a few of the concrete actions being carried out by our own Sisters in Jesus’ name:
- Sister Carmelina Di Bella in Senegal, who listens to and cares for the poor with hope and compassion.
- Sister Arleen Bourquin in the US, who speaks for God’s neglected and abused little ones in her ministry as a court appointed special advocate;
- Sister Maria Lúcia de Olivera in Brazil, who is advocating to change public policy and is raising awareness to preserve the Cerrado (the second largest eco-region in Brazil).
- Sister Laura Viti, who ministers to the incarcerated mentally ill in Italy, affirming that each person has the right to begin anew and be alive in the community of life.
As people living out the charism of Blessed Frances, we have always been advocates, and we continue to speak for the voiceless, along with all people of good will.
sr. Tiziana Merletti, sfp
Congregational Minister
Listening to and Working for the Poor
“Generating Hope . . . Is it not the simplicity and the total giving of oneself until the end, as did St. Francis and Mother Frances?”
Sister Carmelina Di Bella, SFP
Keur Mbaye Fall Formation Community
Dakar, Senegal
 Sr. Carmelina and little friend |
As a daughter of Mother Frances Schervier, it is through my various ministries at the Diocesan Caritas, the Parish, and the women’s movement that I serve the sick and the poor (both Christian and Muslim). I do this with a spirit of simplicity that is shaped by my listening to each one (male or female) as well as listening to those with whom I work and those who seek me out.
Listening to the poor and working with them requires listening. Knowing how to listen implies, first of all, having faith. "... It is not good that man should be alone ..." The concern expressed in this Scripture passage from Genesis is not only a life journey for married couples. We all were created to infinitely welcome the other, for eternity. And we all are, as it were, expecting to be completed by another . . . Listening, particularly while sharing, draws out from within myself ever varied possibilities to discover and to develop new harmonies within my inner self and new ways of being with the poor.
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The Church tells us that we are like a zither (stringed instrument) on which the Holy Spirit plays, so that the more we listen, the more our strings are multiplied . . . To talk with the poor is a listening challenge which the Gospel knows only too well. We hear the Word which insistently tells us that we should listen to the poor.
It is sometimes assumed that the poor do not have “more” to tell us or to teach us, but when I listen to them, I experience my own heart taking on new dimensions -- becoming more delicate and happier with any small or new beautiful thing it had not noticed before.
“Generating Hope”. . . is it not also about listening in the work I do? Is it not a place for sharing and creativity which truly allows for great joys in the reverence for the richness of our diversity? Is it not the simplicity and the total giving of oneself until the end, as did St. Francis and Mother Frances?
Serving as a Voice for the Voiceless
“Through advocacy I am living our Chapter call to generate compassion and hope within the community of life.”
Sister Arleen Bourquin, SFP
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My personal definition of the word ‘advocate’ includes ‘to support, stand with, speak out for’ and, as a vowed woman religious, it also includes ‘to pray for.’ It seems that being an advocate began early in my life and has changed as I have matured. Like the children in my second grade religious education classes, the “to pray for” advocacy developed in my family home. Praying for friends, relatives and pets that were sick -- or undefined blessings were a part of my daily ritual.
Advocacy continues to be an important element in my ministry. Two years ago, I became a CASA volunteer (Court Appointed Special Advocate). During the required training program, I was surprised to learn that until the 20th century, children had no rights in the USA. The first child abuse case was brought to trial under the law against cruelty towards animals!
When children have been abused or neglected or are dependants, they are referred to Children Services, and their case may go to Juvenile Court. The judge or magistrate may request that a CASA Guardian ad litum represent the child’s best interest. As a guardian ad litum, I am responsible for investigating everything that is happening in the life of the child: school, health care, the relationship of parents and other relatives, etc. I am required to prepare a detailed report identifying concerns and making recommendations.
To remove a child from the home is the most difficult recommendation to make. In the two years that I have volunteered at CASA, I have served six families involving sixteen children. All the parents I have worked with love their children, and even though I am focused on the best interest of the children, they ultimately experience my work with them as supportive.
As a Franciscan Sister of the Poor, my ministry with CASA is one of standing with and speaking out for God’s little ones, the ones who have no voice because of their age or their fears.
In today’s world, life frequently gets in the way of being a good parent, (e.g., homelessness, loss of employment, drug addiction, children having children). The list could go on: one mom buys expensive leather wrestling boots but has little food in her kitchen; another moves from place to place because she has no permanent dwelling. My experience has been primarily with children that have been neglected, although sometimes behavior and conversations with a child have made me suspicious that there are family secrets that the child is afraid to reveal.
As a Franciscan Sister of the Poor, my ministry with CASA is one of standing with and speaking out for God’s little ones, the ones who have no voice because of their age or their fears. It is obvious to me that most parents are good people who get caught in bad circumstances -- and with the right assistance they can move beyond what seems impossible to them and create new possibilities for their children. Through advocacy I am living our Chapter call to generate compassion and hope within the community of life.
[Photographer: AL Minor]
Advocating for the Environment:
Changing Public Policy and Raising Awareness
“Each of us can contribute with conscious actions so that our mother Earth becomes an inhabitable, humane and beautiful place.”
Sr. Maria Lúcia de Oliveira, SFP
When we participate in an advocacy group, our energies are renewed and we work with gusto. Last year I joined the Cerrado/CRB, a group of religious and lay people organized by the Brazilian Religious Conference (CRB). Our objective is to advocate for the Cerrado, the second largest eco-region in Brazil. This project is helping to develop a spiritual and ecological experience and raise awareness about its preservation. We are denouncing the degradation as trees are cut down for coal and for cattle grazing.
Today, the Cerrado’s deforestation is much worse than the condition of the Amazon rainforest. The fountainheads of the principal rivers in Brazil are located in the Cerrado. Tropical rainfall and rivers combined are vital for the country’s electricity matrix since 95 percent of Brazilians are dependent on power generated (at least in part) from the water resources found within this eco-region.
The bio-diversity of the Cerrado* and Caatinga** eco-regions are unique in the whole world. Many threatened species within the Mata Atlântica eco-system (along the Southeastern coast) have managed to survive by migrating to the Cerrado. If these collapse, other eco-systems will be threatened as well. About 25,000 local communities including small farmers, communities and indigenous nations are dependent on the Cerrado’s natural resources.
 Our group visiting the IPEC*** in Pirinópolis, Goiás on October 17: Sisters Mirene, Cândida, Genoveva, Edejanira, Maura, Maria Lúcia and Giselda |
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 The Cerrado transformed into a pasture |
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Taking Concrete Action to Protect and Preserve Our Mother Earth
• We advocate for public policies and network with Catholic organizations and government organizations. We are in contact with the Federal Representative Pedro Wilson, who has proposed a Constitutional amendment – “Cerrado and Caatinga as National Patrimony.” He has been a staunch defender of these two Brazilian eco-systems, which together comprise 33 percent of the national territory. They are of vital importance to the country’s ecological balance.
• Cerrado National Day (September 11) was celebrated at the university campus and there were several activities and cultural events. We were in charge of collecting signatures in support of Representative Wilson’s constitutional amendment proposal, which is to be voted upon by the Legislative Assembly’s Chamber of Deputies. Their politicians have not allowed this project on their agenda. They do not have any interest since they are large estate owners whose only concern is to earn money by raising cattle.
• Our group has printed handbooks. “The Cerrado: God’s Garden” contains scientific and biblical concepts written in popular language and suggests taking concrete actions for the daily care of the environment. We are also preparing a handbook on recycling garbage. We have been networking with persons and groups concerned with the environment – women, men, children, and young people in the communities – and distributing the handbooks, while searching for partnerships and financial solutions to continue publishing these booklets.
• We commit ourselves to generate compassion and hope in the community of life, while living in a world dominated by selfishness, greed, a thirst for power and ownership. Today, more than ever, we must incarnate these values and express them in our deeds. The world can no longer sustain so much talk and so little action. Each of us can contribute with conscious actions so that our mother Earth becomes an inhabitable, humane and beautiful place.
*Cerrado – this eco-region in Brazil is the most extensive woodland-savannah in South America.
**Caatinga is an eco-region, a type of vegetation (shrubland and thorny forest region) in the northeastern part of Brazil
*** Institute of Permaculture and Eco-village of the Cerrado (IPEC)- an experimental educational design center and international community in the Cerrado savanna of Brazil
Every Person Has the Right to Begin Anew
“Our commitment as SFPs is to say aloud again and again, that each individual has the right to begin anew and be healed so that compassion and hope may be alive in the community of life!”
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Sr. Laura Viti, sfp
There are six Judiciary Psychiatric Hospitals (JPH) in Italy. Individuals who are sent to these institutions are mentally ill and have committed crimes; they are not considered guilty because of their mental condition. Italian law applies a “safety measure,” which consists of two years for minor crimes or five to ten years for more serious crimes. Usually the “safety measure” consists of admitting these individuals to a Judiciary Psychiatric Hospital.
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The purpose of JPH is to facilitate the healing of mental patients; in reality it is a place where healing cannot happen. The food is insufficient, there is not adequate clothing, medications are scarce and often the inmates lose their dignity. Sometimes it seems that nobody cares for these patients and they risk becoming abandoned and trapped in the system. As Franciscan Sisters of the Poor, together with the staff and volunteers, we try to foster the return of these patients to the outside world and restore their dignity and rights.
Paolo’s Story
Paolo was a drug addict and was at JPH for a personality disorder. Everyone is tired of dealing with him. They are aware of all the mistakes he made in life. His family – though they love Paolo very much – is unable to handle him. Any attempt to help him join a community fails. At the JPH, where there is no program for drug addicts, this young man is able to look at his life and wish to begin a journey toward a new life. The staff encourages him to attend some classes outside the facility, and his family shares actively in Paolo’s therapeutic program.
The team at the hospital gives positive encouragement. Whenever we contact the services outside to determine how a patient can best return to the world, we hit a wall. Social services that should be dealing with Paolo consider him to be someone with a negative past. They are not interested in his current condition and put off working with him, without seeking a real solution.
We mobilize many people to support Paolo and look for a community who is willing to welcome him and involve the judge to solicit needed social services. Staff and volunteers believe that Paolo has the right and ability to begin anew. Unfortunately, his long wait has not ended; after four years of waiting everything is on hold for our friend.
Yet, our “being with him” is already a new beginning. This is what Paolo wrote after spending a day away from the hospital:
“Dear Sr. Laura, it’s 8 pm and I am thinking of the day I just spent. It was really great, almost “abnormal” to live simply, without a care in the world, but to especially realize that I was able to do it with a clear mind. To many, this may sound childish, but within myself I am experiencing fulfilling situations and emotions for what they truly are, without the help of artificial and destructive substances. It’s not easy... daily life is not pleasant, but at least it allows me to think, to re-live my past and learn for the future...
The journey ahead of me will never end if I want to continue to live in a healthy and respectful way. This is why commitment, respect and awareness will be the tools I will use to become again the Paolo I have known many years ago! I conclude by praising those who, like yourself, helped me get up again and have a glimpse of what I bypassed in my life. Thank you.”
Our commitment as Franciscan Sisters of the Poor is to say aloud again and again, each individual has the right to begin anew and be healed so that compassion and hope may be alive in the community of life!
Copyright 2009 Franciscan Sisters of the Poor